Councillor update since May 7th
We have now agreed our Committees, panels and outside body commitments for this civic year. I will sit on Standards Committee, Environment Committee, Health Liaison Panel and am a Downs Conservator.
Standards & Constitution Committee.
I am chair of this committee. We met on 29th June.
We agreed to establish a cross-party Standard & Constitution Working Group. The working group last year did not have time to finish all the work on the revisions to the Constitution, and it may be that, once we start to use the new Constitution, other possible amendments may come to light. For efficient working, the working group work outside the committee and bring proposals to the committee for wider consultation.
Environment Committee.
I am vice chair of this committee. We met on 13th June.
We received a report from Surrey Cunty Council (SCC) covering a high level approach to county wide waste management for the next 3 years. The borough is the collecting authority for waste and SCC the waste disposal authority. One of the issues we have currently is that we are still waiting for a national waste strategy, which was first proposed in 2018 and it is difficult to move forwards without this.
The borough has 12 public tennis courts. Currently they can be booked by coaches etc, but otherwise they are open for anyone to use at any time – you just turn up and hope that no one else has got there first. The Lawn Tennis Association is offering grants to install gate technology so that the courts would be bookable by anyone. If the Council were to pursue this, there is some maintenance work needed on the courts; there would be a cost to administer the scheme as well as an annual subscription to the LGA to cover the maintenance and operation of the system. However the income received from bookings should cover this and the future maintenance of the courts. The committee agreed that officers should pursue this and agreed the required funding.
Allotments Working Group
An Allotments Working Group has been set up which I chair. I am in the initial stages of fact finding about the current position before we look at the issues raised by allotment holders and how they may be addresses.
Climate Working Group
I chair the cross-party Climate Change Working Group. We met on 30th June and heard about Biodiversity and Climate Change and received updates on the Council’s plans for addressing climate change and how they fit with our current Climate Change action Plan.
I have been attending meetings of SCC’s ‘Green Futures’ Partnership. I am hoping that this will produce opportunities for support for local businesses to engage in ‘greener’ operations and contribute towards reducing our carbon emissions.
Health Liaison Panel
At the July meeting we are expecting to hear –
- A report on the work of Action for Carers
- A service update from Surrey Heartlands
- An update on the proposed new Hospital.
Council
The Annual Meeting of the Council was held on 23rd May. This is the meeting where the new mayor and deputy are elected and the previous mayor is thanked for their service.
Committee and outside bodies are announced, with elections where necessary.
The Constitution – in this case the much revised constitution – was approved.
Residents’ issued raised
I have received several messages from residents wanting help with a variety of concerns.
Many of the issues raised continue to relate to on-street parking. SCC took back responsibility for administering this in April, but there appear to be some issues with their new systems.
I am also receiving complaints about trees, weeds overgrowing footpaths and lack of mowing of grass verges – again matters that SCC are now responsible for.